29-07-2025
15 Creative Ways For CEOs To Better Connect With Employees
Employee engagement isn't just HR's responsibility; it starts at the top. When CEOs take an active role in building trust, encourage open dialogue and show genuine interest in their teams, it creates a culture where people feel seen, heard and valued. From small gestures to bold new practices, there are countless ways leaders can engage more meaningfully with their employees.
Below, 15 members of Forbes Coaches Council share innovative ideas CEOs can regularly use to foster stronger employee relationships. Read on to learn why these efforts are so critical to an organization's long-term success.
1. Connect Roles To Purpose And Impact
Have a clear purpose. Every executive can share how their work connects with their personal purpose, sharing how it makes a difference for team members, customers and the communities they serve. Help employees find their purpose within their work. Help each team member see how their work has purpose and how they make a positive impact on others, both in their organization and in the world at large. - Dale Werner, Ph.D., Mindloft
2. Spotlight Strengths To Reinforce Value
A CEO can boost engagement by regularly spotlighting how employees use their strengths to make a difference. A quick shout-out, email or visit that connects strengths to impact shows people they're seen and valued. When leaders recognize what's working, it builds trust, motivation and a culture where people want to contribute. - Kelly Stine, The Leading Light Coach
3. Invite Ideas Through 'Vision Labs'
CEOs can hold a monthly 'Vision Lab,' where employees share ideas directly with leadership to solve real challenges or imagine future innovations. This fosters inclusion, trust and creativity—turning passive roles into active contributions, which boosts engagement, purpose and long-term retention. - Dr. Adil Dalal, Pinnacle Process Solutions, Intl., LLC
4. Do Quarterly 'Leadership Impact Feedback Tours'
One idea is to host quarterly 'Leadership Impact Feedback Tours,' inviting employees to share how your leadership affects their performance. When CEOs create psychologically safe spaces for real, respectful feedback and respond with humility, they strengthen trust, engagement and growth. - Yolanda Greer, Elevate U Consulting
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5. Hold Monthly Forums To Showcase Resilience
A CEO could host a monthly 'Failure Forward Forum,' where employees (starting with the CEO) share lessons from a misstep and how they bounced back. It normalizes failure, builds trust and sparks innovation through vulnerability and shared growth. This humanizes leadership, turns setbacks into stepping stones and creates a culture where learning outweighs blame, driving long-term engagement. - Dr. Jennifer Bryant, Reaching From Within, An Empowerment Journey LLC
6. Shadow Teams To Build Empathy
A CEO could regularly shadow different teams for a day, immersing themselves in daily operations across departments. This hands-on approach shows genuine interest, breaks down hierarchy and sparks empathy-driven decisions. Doing this makes employees feel seen and valued, resulting in stronger connections, collaboration and engagement throughout the organization. This also improves company morale. - Christopher Fairbank, The Dare To Be Different Speaker
7. Host 'Unfiltered Q&A' Sessions
You can host a monthly 'Unfiltered Q&A' where any team member can ask questions anonymously or live. This shows strength in transparency, surfaces real issues you can act on, and builds trust, as people feel heard and valued. It makes culture feel open, bold and human. - Sariki Abungwo, Blesatech Consultancy Services
8. Hold A Series Of Breakfasts Or Lunches With The CEO
A regular series of lunches or breakfasts with the CEO, in person or remotely, can work very well. First-come, first-served signups are great, as they show a willingness of the executive to interact with anyone interested. This avoids the issue of 'handpicked' participants. Setting a topic helps to get the conversation going, but a willingness to change direction works very well. - Carolyn Moore, CultureFluence Consulting
9. Meet Regularly With Junior-Level Employees
CEOs who carve out time to meet with their junior-level employees in one-on-one chats or small group settings go a long way. This stage of talent has fresh insights that could benefit the CEO. It also shows employees that leadership is more approachable and open to feedback, qualities that are key to instill early on in teams. These sessions can be positioned as 'view from the top' to foster a two-way exchange. - Tiffany Uman, Tiffany Uman Career Coaching Inc.
10. Offer Informal 'Office Hours' For Open Dialogue
The CEO can host unplanned or impromptu 'office hours' each month—open, casual times where employees can ask questions, share ideas or just connect. There is no agenda and no hierarchy. It signals transparency, builds trust and shows that leadership is accessible and listening. When CEOs show up with curiosity, not just direction, engagement often becomes a two-way street. - Tinna Jackson, Jackson Consulting Group, LLC
11. Start Key Meetings With Meaningful Questions
A creative way to foster relationships is to begin key meetings with meaning, not metrics. You can ask employees, 'What energized you this week?' or, 'What insight shifted your thinking?' This simple act signals that people matter beyond their output. By engaging their emotions, reflections and inner spark, you don't just build engagement, you ignite commitment. - Neerja Bhatia, Rhythm of Success
12. Spend A 'Day In The Life' Of Your Team Regularly
A CEO who regularly dedicates time to 'Day in the Life' immersion—spending a day alongside employees from entry-level to middle management—demonstrates authentic leadership by stepping into their team's world with genuine curiosity. This raw, unfiltered connection breaks down barriers, shows they truly care and sparks trust for employees to be seen, valued and inspired to bring their best daily. - Shikha Bajaj, Own Your Color
13. Share Biweekly Video Updates Via Email
You can create a two-minute video to share via e-blast every other week that provides key information about company changes, new initiatives or upcoming events. You may want to consider partnering with the marketing, talent and/or HR teams to ensure the communication going out is relevant, timely and connected back to the company mission. This method becomes more engaging than the standard town hall or company call. - Jaclynn Robinson, Nine Muses Consulting, LLC
14. Model Healthy Mental Health Habits
If you're not actively encouraging employees to care for their mental health, you're missing a valuable opportunity to engage them. This must start at the top, with the CEO and senior leaders modeling healthy habits like taking time off and using the company's employee assistance program. After all, you can't fully engage employees who aren't mentally fit. - Dr. Kyle Elliott, MPA, CHES,
15. Host Small-Group Retreats
CEOs can hold immersive quarterly retreats with microgroups of eight to 10 employees at a time, mixing roles and regions. They can host the off-site in a psychologically safe and inspiring environment to invite bold thinking, away from judgment. These aren't strategy retreats; they're cultural mirrors. The CEO participates as a learner, not a leader. - Olivia Dufour, Olivia Dufour Consulting
